THE NETHERLANDS. When England in 1816 adopted the gold standard, the Netherlands, which then had the single silver standard, went over to the double standard, with the ratio of gold to silver of 1 to 15.873. They returned in 1847 to the silver standard, and afterwards, in 1875, again replaced the latter by the double standard. The fundamental monetary laws of the country at the present time are those of November 26, 1847, and June 6, 1875. The monetary unit is the guilder or florin, of 100 cents. Gold.-The standard gold coins are the 10-florin and 5-florin pieces. The 10florin piece has a legal weight of 6.720 grams, 0.900 fine, and contains 6.048 grams (93.332 grains) of fine gold, worth in U. S. gold $4.019. The trade coins are the double ducat and the ducat, 0.983 fine, and containing respectively, 6.8692 and 3.4346 grams of pure metal. (Out of a kilogram of pure gold there are manufactured 1,653.43 florins, and out of a kilogram of pure silver 105.82 florins.) Only the standard gold and silver coins are unlimited legal tender. Silver fractional coins are legal tender to the amount of 10 florins. The coinage of gold is free; that of standard silver coins, except on account of the State, has been suspended since December 9, 1877. The coinage of fractional silver is on Government account. The coinage charges are 5 florins per kilogram of gold and 1 florin per kilogram of silver. The monetary system of the Netherlands colonies is the same as that of the mother country. Bank Notes.-The Bank of the Netherlands, founded in 1814, has the exclusive right to issue notes. Its charter has been renewed three times, each time for twenty-five years. It last expired March 31, 1889, but was again renewed, and will not now terminate till 1914. The Bank of the Netherlands is not a State bank, but a certain amount of surveillance is exercised over it by a special commissioner of the kingdom, who is paid by the bank; and its president and secretary are appointed by the king. It is situated at Amsterdam, but has a branch at Rotterdam, and agencies and correspondents in all important places in the country. Its capital is 16,000,000 florins. It receives no interest-bearing deposits and its accounts current are payable at sight. The amount of issue of its notes is not absolutely fixed, but by royal decree the sum total of its notes, of its checks and balances of account current must be covered to the extent of at least 40 per cent. by its metallic reserve, which may consist of gold and silver coin or bullion. Since 1872 the bank has purchased no silver for its reserve. Under the law its only possible debts are its notes, its own checks, and its accounts current. December 31, 1893, the amount of its notes in circulation was 201,899,380 florins ($81,127,370), while its metallic reserve amounted to 129,360,504 florins ($52,002,921). Government Notes.-In addition to the bank notes there are Government notes in circulation to the extent of 15,000,000 florins ($6,030,000). Estimated Stock of Money in the Netherlands.—Gold, $27,000,000 ; silver (full tender), $53,400,000; silver (limited tender), $3,200,000; uncovered notes, $36,000,000, being State notes, $6,000,000, plus bank notes, $82,000,000, less metallic reserve, $52,000,000. RUSSIA. Gold.-The fundamental monetary law of the country is dated December 17, 1885, and went into force January 1, 1886. The monetary unit is the silver ruble of 100 kopecks. The law provides for the coinage of both gold and silver in the ratio of 1 to 15. The gold coins are the imperial (10 rubles) and half imperial (5 rubles) of the legal weight of 12.9039 and 6.4519 grams respectively, and the fineness of 0.900. The imperial, therefore, contains 11.6135 grams of pure gold (value $7.718) and the half imperial, 5.8067 grams. The coinage of gold on private account is unlimited, and the mint charge is 3 per cent. for that metal. Silver.-The full legal tender silver coins are the ruble, ruble and ruble pieces. The silver ruble has a legal weight of 19.995 grams, a fineness of 0.900, and contains 17.996 grams (277.713 grains) of fine silver ($0.748 at the U. S. coinage ratio The half and quarter rubles are of the same fineness and of pro- These coins arc legal tender to the amount of 3 rubles between individuals and unlimited legal tender to the State for taxes, etc. The coinage of silver on private account is suspended. Such is the monetary system of Russia as it stands upon the statute book, but it has no existence in fact, that country having been under an exclusively paper regime since 1855. Bank Notes.-The National Bank of Russia is the only bank of issue in the Empire. It is a State bank, established by an imperial ukase in 1860, whose capital and reserve fund were furnished by the Government. Its present capital is 25,000,000 rubles, and its reserve fund 3,000,000. These are the inviolable property of the bank, which the State cannot touch nor use for the public expense any more than it can the deposits of the bank. The State shares the profits of the bank inasmuch as they are employed as a sinking fund to redeem the notes of the bank, at 5 per cent. interest, and to pay other loans made by the State of the bank. It is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance. Its governor and vice-governor are appointed by the Emperor, and its directors are chosen by the Minister of Finance on the recommendation of the governor. The bills of credit, or paper money, of Russia are issued by the bank, and hence are not, properly speaking, paper money of the Government. These credit rubles, in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25 and 100 rubles, have legal and, as a matter of fact, forced currency since the cessation of specie payments. The amount of credit notes it may issue would seem to depend entirely on the exigencies of the Government. Estimated Stock of Money in Russia.-Gold, $450,000,000; silver (full tender), $22,000,000; silver (limited tender), $38,000,000; uncovered notes, $530,000,000, being bank notes, $825,000,000, less metallic reserve, $295,000,000. PORTUGAL. Gold. The present monetary system of Portugal was established by the Law of July 29, 1854, and is gold monometallic, with the milreis of 1,000 reis as monetary unit. One thousand milreis, or a million reis, is called a conto. Gold is coined in unlimited amounts on private account at a mint charge of 1 milreis per kilogram. Silver. Silver, like copper, is coined only in divisional coins. Silver is legal tender only to the amount of 5 milreis, but by Lisbon commercial usage one-third of all payments are accepted in that metal. Bank Notes.-The Bank of Portugal, founded in 1822, and seven others, are authorized to issue notes. The notes of the Bank of Portugal are received by the public treasuries, but otherwise have not legal currency. The notes of the other banks are not received by the public treasuries, but have currency in their respective districts. By the law of 1854, bank notes should represent gold exclusively and be paid in that metal. Estimated Stock of Money in Portugal.-Gold, $40,000,000; silver (limited tender), $25,000,000; uncovered notes, $50,000,000; being bank notes. $55,000,000; less metallic reserve, $5,000,000. TURKEY. Gold.—The monetary system of Turkey has the piaster, equal to 40 paras, 3 aspes, as monetary unit. The gold coins are the 500, 250, 100, 50 and 25 piaster pieces, all of the same fineness, viz., 0.916%. The 100 piaster piece, or gold medjidie, is called the Turkish pound. It has a gross weight of 7.216 grams and a fine weight of 6.6146 grams. The gross and fine weight of the other gold coins are proportional to those of the Turkish pound. The mint charge for gold is 1 per cent. Silver. The silver coins are the 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, and half piaster pieces, 0.830 fine. The 20 piaster piece has a gross weight of 24.055 grams, and a fine weight of 19.9656 grams. The 10, 5, 2, 1 and half piasters have a proportional gross and fine weight. The ratio of gold to silver was originally 1 to 15.09. By a decree the Government lowered the value of the 20-piaster piece to 19 piasters, in consequence of which debasement the ratio of gold to silver is 1 to 15%. The coinage of silver is suspended. Such is the system as it exists on paper, but the actual coined money of the country is in a very unsatisfactory condition. Bank Notes.-The only bank of issue in Turkey is the Imperial Ottoman Bank. Its notes are payable exclusively in gold. Its reserve is generally greater than its circulation. Thus, at the end of 1886 it had a circulation of 1,758.500, and a reserve of $6,150,000. At present it has a reserve of about $11,000,000 and a note circulation of only $5,000,000. Estimated Stock of Money in Turkey.-Gold, $50,000,000; silver, $40,000,000; uncovered notes, none. ROUMANIA. Coin. The laws of April 14, 1867, and April 3, 1879, introduced the system of the Latin Union into Roumania, the franc being called the lei, and the centime the bani; but in 1890 a measure was passed by the Roumanian Chamber, abrogating the double standard, and substituting for it the single gold standard with a subsidiary silver coinage, legal tender to the amount of 50 lei or francs. Bank Notes.-The only bank of issue is the National Bank of Roumania. The law of 1890 introducing the single standard into the country limited the issue of its notes in the proportion of 21⁄2 paper to 1 of gold. On the 31st of December, 1893, its metallic reserve was 59,800,000 lei, and its circulation 128,461,000 lei. SERVIA. Coin. The monetary system of Servia was assimilated to that of the Latin Union by the law of November 11,1878. The franc is called the dinar, and the centime the para. It was provided that after the gold pieces had been put in circulation the 5 dinar piece should be legal tender only to the amount of 500 dinars, and the smaller silver pieces only to the amount of 50 dinars, thus making the country, practically, gold monometallic. Bank Notes. The only bank of issue of the country is the National Bank of Servia, located at Belgrade, with a branch at Nisch. Its issue may not exceed three times its metallic reserve. Its circulation in August, 1894, was 26,200,000 dinars, and its metallic reserve 10,600,000 dinars. PERSIA. Silver. The monetary unit is the krân, a silver coin now weighing 24 nakhods (71 grains), 0.895 fine. The silver coins are the 5, 2, and 1 krân pieces, and the 10 shâbîs (11⁄2 krân) and 5 shâhîs pieces. Gold. The unit is the toman, nominally worth 10 krâns, but gold is in circulation only as a commodity, and one gold toman is now worth about 16 krâns. toman is now worth in United States gold coin about $2.30. The Bank Notes.-The Shah in 1889 granted a concession to Baron Julius de Reuter for the formation of an Imperial Bank of Persia, with head office at Teheran and branches in the chief cities. The bank is incorporated under an English charter. It has the exclusive right of issuing bank notes, which may not exceed £800,000, without the assent of the Persian Government. The notes are based on the silver krân. The coin reserve required for the first two years was 50 per cent.; it is now 33 per cent. The notes are issued in denominations from one toman upwards. CHINA. If China can be said to have any standard at all, it must be classed as a silver standard country; yet it has neither gold nor silver coinage. The actual currency coined is the "cash," or "li," made from an alloy of copper, iron and tin. There are several kinds of cash current in the Empire-that coined at Canton weighing 0.08 of a tael, and being valued at 1,350 to the tael. Originally (and nominally still) the cash represented the one-thousandth part of a tael-it now, however, requires in some parts of the Empire from 1,600 to 1,800 to make up the value of the tael, so great has been their depreciation. In all large transactions silver by weight is the medium of exchange; the form chosen being mainly the Spanish or Mexican dollar in the southern part of China, and ingots called shoes, from some fancied resemblance, in the North. These shoes are assayed and stamped, not by a Government official, but by the hong koo, who derives his authority solely from an arrangement among the native bankers. The denomination used in indicating the weight of silver, whether ingots or foreign coin, is the tael. This, however, is a weight which varies in different parts of China. In Canton it equals 580 grains troy (24 taels equal 29 oz. Troy). At Shanghai, where Mexican dollars are current, 1 tael is taken as equivalent to $1.395 ($100 equals 71.7 taels). No statistics as to the number of bank notes outstanding are obtainable. The number of banks in China is very large. These banks for the most part have capitals of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars only, and are under no sort of Government control. Their notes-issued for both "cash" and silver-generally have a circulation limited to the immediate vicinity of the bank and would not be accepted in another city or another part of the same city. JAPAN. The real currency of Japan, before the admission of foreigners into the country, consisted of a gold coin, the kobang, and a silver coin, the ichibu, coined at a ratio of about 1 to 4. The Japanese promptly discovered the danger to which this exposed them, and altered the valuation to correspond more nearly with the ratio in other countries. Silver. Since 1871 the legal money has been the yen of 100 sen. The basis of the new monetary system was the Mexican dollar, whose equivalent, the new silver yen, weighed 416 grains Troy (26.9563 grams) 0.900 fine. But as at the same time gold yens were coined of .900 fineness, and containing 1-1/2 grams fine gold, the double standard was established in Japan with a proportion of gold to silver as 1 to 16.173818. As this relation gave to gold a higher value than its market value for the time being, the Government found it more advantageous to coin gold, and in 1872 the piece of 20 yens, weighing 33-1/3 grams, or 514.41 grains Troy, 0.900 fine, i. e., 30 grams or 462.97 grains Troy, fine. Since 1872 gold has considerably risen in its value towards silver. In consequence gold yens have been largely exported to Europe, and the actual standard of Japan is now silver. In 1875 the Japanese Government resumed the coinage of silver, this time in the shape of a "trade dollar," weighing 420 grains Troy, 0.900 fine, the exact equivalent of the trade dollar, and tried to introduce this coin as a monetary basis instead of the Mexican dollar, and for that purpose made it in 1878 a legal tender in all public and private transactions; but it did not succeed in driving out the Mexican dollar, which, although weighing only about 416 grains, circulated on a par with the Japanese trade dollar; and the coinage of the trade dollar was discontinued. In September, 1879, the Japanese silver yen of 416 grains, 0.900 fineness, was declared by the Government to be a legal tender, to be received and paid on a par with the Mexican dollar, and to be accepted at the Government offices in payment of customs dues, land rents, etc. The foreign banks and the mercantile community have recognized this action on the part of the Government, and this silver yen of 416 grains is the present monetary unit, having virtually supplanted the Mexican dollar. It was not until 1883, when the interest on an internal loan, originally payable in silver or gold, was made payable in silver only, that Japan's position as a silverusing country was finally established. Government and Bank Notes.-Trade among the Japanese is carried on to a large extent in a Government paper money which is inconvertible, but at present stands at par in silver. The weekly statement of the Treasury for March 18th, 1893, shows an outstanding circulation of 98,841,655 yen, while the Treasury held at the same time 22,800,000 yen in gold coin and bullion and 63,800,000 yen in silver coin and bullion. The amount of bank notes outstanding December 31st, 1893, is given as 22,756,118 yen; Bank of Japan convertible silver notes, 148,663,128 yen. MEXICO. Silver.-Mexico has the single silver standard. The principal provisions of the law governing the monetary system of Mexico are as follows: The dollar (el peso) is the unit of account fixed by article 1 of the law of November 28, 1867. The mints of the Republic, of which there are eleven, receive for coinage or assay whatever quantities may be presented by individuals, whether of gold or silver. The coinage ratio is 1 to 164. Since July 1, 1895, the coinage charge on both gold and silver has been at the rate of 5 per cent. of their respective values. In the payment of Government dues or taxes no fixed amount in gold or silver is exacted, and payment is admitted in any of the coins in legal circulation. The Mexican silver dollar circulates not only in Mexico, but, under the name of piaster, is the current coin of several countries in America, Asia and Africa. The denominations, weight, fineness, etc., of the coins of Mexico are as follows: Since 1870 accounts in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Salvador, are kept in dollars (piastres, or silver pesos). Though provision is made, as in Mexico, for coinage of gold, the actual circulation is silver, except as supplemented by paper. Guatemala has a circulation of about $3,000,000 bank notes, one-half of which is "uncovered." In Costa Rica there remains a small and diminishing amount of old Government bills, but the main circulation is that of the Bank of La Union in denominations from $1 to $100. It is at par with fractional silver, of which there is a considerable amount in circulation. Honduras has but one bank, which has the privilege of issuing notes which are legal tender in all payments to Government. SOUTH AMERICAN STATES. CHILE.-Legally Chile has the double standard. But the coinage ratio of gold to silver being 1 to 16.29, gold left the country and no gold pieces are to be found in actual circulation, so that Chile is really on a silver basis, so far as specie is concerned. The real medium of exchange, however, is a depreciated paper currency. The monetary unit is the peso, of the same weight and fineness as the French 5-franc piece; but by the act of 1lov. 26, 1892, the coinage of silver was restricted solely to the account of the State, and an effort made to return to a gold standard, by authorizing the free coinage of gold, in which currency all obligations shall be settled. The actual circulation of the country, in addition to a considerable amount of subsidiary silver, is the national paper currency and bank notes. Of the former there were in circulation Dec. 31, 1893, $29,593,000, against $8,850,000 in gold was held. The nominal value of the bank notes in circulation at the same time was $17,266,507, guaranteed to the extent of 50 per cent. During the year 1893 gold was at a premium of about 290 per cent. By laws of May, 1893, amending the act of 1892 providing for the ultimate redemption of the present inconvertible paper currency, steps are taken to ensure its convertibility after June 1, 1895; and from Jan. 1, 1897, the notes shall cease to be legal tender. An important step has also been taken in the consolidation into one establishment, under the title of "Bank of Chile," of three of the leading banks of the country. The new bank is to consist of two departments-the issue department and the banking department-with separate management, like the Bank of England. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.-Up to 1881 the Argentine Republic had a very incoherent monetary system, mostly paper of fluctuating value; commercial transactions being, in some measure, carried on in foreign coins. In 1875 an attempt to establish a coinage system failed owing to the financial and economical condition of the country. In 1881, however, monetary reform was resumed with better chances of success. The unit of the coinage system is the gold peso, of the same weight and fineness |